Peer Feedback

There is a certain sixth grader in one of my classes who may be a bit more argumentative than necessary. 

Whenever I remind, redirect, or refocus him, instead of returning to the task at hand, he usually tells me why whatever he is doing is acceptable. His tone is often a bit smug, and I, never one to shy away from an argument, am usually willing to elaborate as to what I observed in contrast to what I asked the class to do, sometimes in a firm voice.

We had one of those interactions this morning at the beginning of class. He was having a conversation with another student across the room, and I was ready to start instruction, so I asked them both to turn around and stop talking. The other student complied, but this guy sighed and gave me the stinkeye and remained turned toward the other student rather than pivoting toward the front of the room. When I asked again, he had several reasons why he couldn't move his body and chair, but suffice it to say that he did just that a short time later.

Returning to the question day, I pointed out that it was kindness week and asked everyone to post one thing they could do to increase kindness in our classroom. There were suggestions of giving compliments, lending supplies, listening to me and each other respectfully, and helping in other ways, but five of the 18 students present pointedly wrote that if students stopped arguing with and interrupting the teacher our class would be a much kinder place.

Ouch.